(~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a great difference between two or more things which is clear when you compare them.
...the ~ between town and country...
The two visitors provided a startling ~ in appearance...
Silk was used with wool for ~.
N-VAR: oft N between pl-n
2.
You say by ~ or in ~, or in ~ to something, to show that you are mentioning a very different situation from the one you have just mentioned.
The private sector, by ~, has plenty of money to spend...
In ~, the lives of girls in well-to-do families were often very sheltered...
In ~ to similar services in France and Germany, Intercity rolling stock is very rarely idle.
PHRASE: PHR with cl
3.
If one thing is in ~ to another, it is very different from it.
His public statements have always been in marked ~ to those of his son...
PHRASE: v-link PHR, usu PHR to n
4.
If one thing is a ~ to another, it is very different from it.
The boy’s room is a complete ~ to the guest room.
...a country of great ~s.
N-COUNT: oft N to/with n
5.
If you ~ one thing with another, you point out or consider the differences between those things.
She ~ed the situation then with the present crisis...
In this section we ~ four possible broad approaches.
VERB: V n with n, V pl-n
6.
If one thing ~s with another, it is very different from it.
Johnson’s easy charm ~ed sharply with the prickliness of his boss...
Paint the wall in a ~ing colour.
V-RECIP: V with n, V-ing, also pl-n V
7.
Contrast is the degree of difference between the darker and lighter parts of a photograph, television picture, or painting.
N-UNCOUNT